1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to magnetic write heads for writing to magnetic storage media. More particularly, this invention relates to diverting stray flux from sources external to a magnetic write head.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Magnetic storage and magnetic recording are terms referring to the storage of data on a magnetic medium. In magnetic recording, magnetic patterns are recorded onto a magnetizable material to store the data. The information is accessed using one or more read/write heads. Magnetic storage devices, primarily hard disks and magnetic tape drives, are widely used to store digital information such as software, audio, and video data.
Recording heads for use with magnetic storage media typically include a writer and a reader that respectively record and detect magnetic domains in a medium in proximity to the head. A writer typically has a coil with one or more turns wrapped around a ferromagnetic yoke. Writers operate by passing an electric current through the coil, which produces a magnetic field in the yoke. This magnetic field bridges a non-magnetic gap in the ends of the yoke, also known as the pole tips and also extends partly into the storage medium. For a perpendicular writer, a soft magnetic under layer can be employed in the storage medium such that the write field extends between the pole tip and soft under layer. When the write field exceeds the coercivity of the medium, the medium becomes magnetized. When the write current is reversed as the head moves over the medium, a magnetic transition is created. These transitions form the bits of digital data that are detected with the read head.
When two or more writers are in proximity, the magnetic field generated by one writer may enter the yoke of the other writer. This may lead to writer-to-writer crosstalk which may degrade the quality of the patterns recorded by the magnetic writer. More specifically, crosstalk between two writers is primarily caused by flux that originates at one writer and couples into the yoke of another writer.